Pacific Rim delivers on everything promised in the trailer and more

Rating: 10/10 (13 July 2013)

Sure to become the genre-defining first of a slew of giant monster movies set to return to Western theaters (I suppose we do need a break from all the zombies), Pacific Rim fires on all cylinders and moves too fast to let any slip ups slow it down or affect your impression of the final product.
Ramin Djawadi delivers yet another fantastic and iconic score, a job that even famous composers fail to always accomplish, that perfectly complements the epic scope of the film. Yes, there's that overused word: "epic" but there is no other word for this film. I was sitting in awe for the entire first act of the film.
Rather than take risks with the plot Del Toro plays it safe and predictable towards the end, perhaps having realized he had a hit on his hands and not wanting to screw it up with needless risks. But as satisfied viewers, we wish he had taken more risks and given us more, more, more as most of the other positive reviews indicate.
The film's credits include appropriate shout outs to the creators of Gundam and Neon Genesis Evangelion and other giant monster fare which paved the way for this film in the way that the genre of cyberpunk paved the way for The Matrix. Though don't get me wrong, The Matrix took all those risks Del Toro didn't and enjoys a much loftier status in cinematic history for it. But Pacific Rim is just as fun and it's a good thing the filmmaker kept that the focus whereas The Matrix did take on a lot of other loftier goals and baggage (quite successfully at that).
This film is meant to be seen on IMAX 3D. It is the best implementation of 3D in film I've ever seen, surpassing Avatar. Think of the epic fight scenes in Man of Steel which were a delight in IMAX 3D. Now imagine the entire film was like that with lots of subtle 3D touches and flair thrown in.
If you want headier sci-fi, Elysium will probably deliver on that front, but I can't imagine any film being more entertaining than this in the foreseeable future.